The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-10-01

are certain tendencies that are shown in the
purposes of public requests and donations.
Colleges and hospitals and "hOmes" have,
until recently, had almost a monopoly of the
requests OF the rich. But the fashion Is now
fast changing and the directions the change
is taking are indicative Of the broadening
thought of the time Educational institu-
tions are still the preferred objects Of bene-
factions Of the public good, but it Is no longer
the classical or theological departments of
colleges that are selected so largely for en-
dowment, nor are educational gifts now by
any means confined to colleges of any kind.
High schools, polytechnic schools, industrial
schools, kindergartens, gymnasiums, schools
of agriculture and social science and such
practical departments Of the new education"
are now selected. Hospitals and homes are
yet founded in great numbers, but now there
is generally some specific purpose, which In
dicates the practical tendency of the thought
of the times, shown by the donor.
And 1t is especially noteworthy that sever
al Of the largest donations for the public
good that have ever been made in the United
States are to establish not libraries of the old
kind, but absolutely free libraries. In fact,
such great free library gifts as those of Enoch
Pratt of Baltimore. Samuel j. Tilden of New
York, Walter L. Newberry Of Chicago, and
hundreds of similar but smaller donations
have so turned popular attention to the
foundation of absolutely free libraries as
privilege and duty of rich men that disIin-
recently remarked that 1t would soon be a
reproach for any town that had a rich citizen
not to have fully equipped free library. In
the list Of the donations published during
the last three months are not less than twen-
ty-hye to free public libraries, and they ag-
gregate this includes none Of the largest
gifts given ab0ve) about S1,000,0O0
Another somewhat new direction that
public benefaction has recently taken is in
the donation or .adornment of parks. The
municipal establishment Of parks, has re-
ceived what might be called regular sup
ply of aid from private public spirit. Twelve
cities or towns are included in the list to
which, during the last three months, private
citizens have made presents Of parks or con-
tributed largely to their Identification.
As showing further this recent tendency to
practical aid in the making of benefactions
may be mentioned such facts as these: AT
Trinity College Hartford a theological
school, very large part of last years dona-
lions was to build and equip the gymnasium,
and $1,000 were given to promote the good
exercise got from lawn tennis; at New Ha-
ven, Henry Farnam and James e. English
have each given about 100000 TO construct
public drives in a park, and at Winsted,
Conn, gift Of $4,000 has been made TO
grade a boulevard around Long Lake; at
Waterbury, Conn, lady left a fortune to
Henry Bergh to carry on his work, and
$1,000 to erect fountain on the public green
with figure embematic of kindness to ami
mails; the free kindergarten system OF schools
the establishment Of which was begun by
Mrs. Stanford in San Francisco, now in
cludes, by recent additions, as many as forty
schools, where more than 1000 children are
taught free; since the establishment of Cor
nell University most of the schools that have
been endowed have made provision for the
co-education of the sexes, for example, the
great Leland Stanford. Jr., University, in
California, and Harvard and Johns Hopkins
and Columbia colleges in the East, ana a
very large number in the Middle and West
ern States admit women, most Of them by
virtue of donations for that specific purpose
several benefactions have been made TO the
cause for which Henry George labors, and
the bequest of a large sum to the University
of Pennsylvania to make an investigation OF
spiritualism is yet fresh in eyerybody's
mem orV